For the first time on record the odds of accidentally dying from an opioid overdose in the United States are now greater than those of dying in an automobile accident, according to #nationalsafetycouncil. This could be in part that cars are getting safer, but there is still no excuse for this.
And a large number of these victims started out like you and me, just looking for some pain relief and trusting their doctor to write them a safe prescription. It’s taken too long for the medical establishment to acknowledge that there is a problem and to attempt to create better prescription procedures.
Why does it have to come to this? And when will natural health care become the norm and not the alternative? Consider chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy, cannabis derivatives (in states where it’s medically legal) as some options. There are various levels of counseling for pain and stress management systems including Minfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR), yoga classes, and dietary assistance. Somatic approaches to movement dysfunction such as Feldenkrais, and Mind-Body approaches such as Somatic Experience (SE) and Neuroemotional Technique (NET) can be life changing.
For chronic back pain, I recommend Dr. Stuart McGill’s book “The Back Mechanic,” available on Amazon. For a link to a sample of his work with back care for chronic pain sufferers Click Here.
Pain is a serious problem, and for anyone who’s been in pain, and especially chronic pain, I acknowledge what you have to live with. But that said, becoming addicted to Opioids and going down the slippery slope of overdosing isn’t the answer! We can’t just throw prescriptions at our veterans and others with chronic pain.
I acknowledge that it is a jungle out there, trying to find your way to options outside the box of what your insurance carrier covers or your doctor even knows about. But there are resources, some of which I have mentioned above. I will blog more on these options in follow up articles.